Hi, I'm new to this forum but I have been treading and researching this car like a disease. I was wondering I was offered this lease and im afraid I can not find a better deal and I am still a little iffy on leasing after reading those links people posted, and I just want one final opinion.

I'm in the Michigan region so let me know if this is at least a fair lease offer.

Rx-8, Fully loaded minus the navigation system.

39 months, $2500 down 362 a month.

Thank you.

:D

 

From the numbers I can tell you are being charged a very high interest rate assuming they gave you the $1500 Mazda leasing promotion already. It is not a good deal.

 

I think it's pretty good, but we'd need to the know discounted price, residual, and money factor.

You could try Leasecompare.com and see how their quote rates:

http://www.leasecompare.com/#

 

Leasing is almost always a bad deal unless you do all the math yourself (which most people are too lazy to do or just don't know how). Leasing is a way for people to drive a car that they can't actually afford or drive a new car every 3 years. I would never lease anything.

 

Here's the math:


3 YR
58% residual
.00285 money factor

4 YR
51% residual
.00290 money factor


I decided to buy instead - money is so cheap right now.



Note: $1500 is comprised of a $500 graduate incentive and a very specific target mailing offer of $1000 for previous Ford, Mazda lease customers. Not everyone gets $1500.

 

So, you did not get the $1500 lease discount. You should ask for it. You can use that on top of the discounts you mentioned. This is specifically for lease only. I did not use it because I did not want to lease. The owner of the dealership where I bought the car said that Mazda hoped people would come back for another Mazda once the leases expire so the discount is for lease deals only.

 

I've never seen or heard of this mythical $1500 lease incentive. Not on KBB, Edmunds or Mazdausa.com

Do tell.

 

I'm pro leasing because I'd like to get a new car every few years and not have to worry about resale values.

Not to mention, I'd rather lease an RX8 than buy a Civic. Or, I'd rather lease a Porsche than buy a Mazda. Or, I'd rather lease a 911 Turbo than buy a Boxster. Or, I'd rather lease a Modena, then buy a 911 Turbo. :D

 

Mazda will give the $1500 to the dealer. Of course it is up to the dealer if he wants to pass that on to you. It is real and my dealer acknowledged that although they were surprised that I knew.

Go to the Dealers/Ordering forum and search for $1500 lease deal.

 

If I were in the habit of buying a car... I'd always buy USED cars. The depreciation hit is already taken.

However... as I have learned... I'm not going to waste a lot of money and put it into a depreciationg asset. If you're smart, and you stay ahead of the game, then you can take the cash saved from your lease purchase, invest it, and make the money back by the time your lease is up (at least the interest portion of it and then some).

Can't beat that.

 

If you have the money, just buy the car. It is well worth the car, besides, you can fix up the car and it'll still be your's. Otherwise you have to keep it the way it is. If you could LEASE a Modena or 911, you should have no problem forking over 30k. I plan to keep the car at least 5+ years, and if something else comes along, I'll just buy that as well.... preferably the RX-7. Leasing something is like renting temporarily... I'm paying and paying, and at the end, I get nothing. If I didn't have the money for the car, I would just buy something cheaper.

Kind of like the Credit card.. I hate that thing. I would buy whatever I have to by cash, and if I don't have enough, I'll wait until I do. Hate owing someone money... blah.

 

I agree. Don't get me wrong, leasing is great for some people,
but in my job, I work with leases, definately do your homework.
You can get burned big time with fees and hassles if your not careful. The big thing I can tell you since your not sure about
leasing the 8 is if you change your mind and you already leased
a vehicle, getting out of your lease is like pulling teeth! Unless you
go all the way till the end, consider buying.

 

Anubis Rising, you are exactly right. That is why I passed up the $1500 lease deal and bought the car instead.

As for buying a used car against a new one. First of all, there are virtually no used RX8s on the market yet. Secondly, taking a depreciation hit is not a problem if you plan on keeping the car for a long time and I do.

 

I leased my 8 cuz I HATE selling cars. If I wanted to be a used cr salesman, well, i would be one. Also, Instead of buying a used car, I can afford a NEW car for the first time. I've never kept a car longer than 4 years anyhow. Win Win, I say. Im gonna flog her while I got her, though and get every penny out of those 48000 miles! heh heh heh

 

The thing is this, you are paying a lot for the total Lease and whatever maintenance you have to pay... and at the end of the 4 years, what do you have to show for it? Nothing. I'm making $260 monthly payments, for the next 3 years. At the end of that 3 years, the car is mine. I can fix it up, etc etc. I do plan to keep the car for at least 6-7 years.

It's like someone staying at a hotel every other week... ya sure you can stay at different places around the United states. But at the end of the year, you have no place to call your home, and have nothing to show for it.

 

At the end of the lease what do I have to show for it? A new car. It's a given that if you want to own the car, you'll have to pay more. Leasing or financing or straight purchase, you get want you pay for. Leasing = uses of the vehicle for the term of the lease. Financing = use of the vehicle till balance is paid off. Straight purchase = ownership of the vehicle.

Leasing doesn't meet everyone's needs. If you drive much more than 12K-15K a year, leasing is a serious problem. As for the modifications, I won't do any serious modifications that would void my warranty anyway.

If you want to keep your car 2-5 years after you've made the last payment, leasing to buy is not a good way to go. If you want to get out of the lease, forget it. You are locked in, unless you want to take a serious hit. Hence, don't lease longer than your interest in the car. (I don't think there are 1 year leases btw. ).

The one exception to my lease cavaet maybe the Elise in its first year in the states. I'm thinking of purchasing it because I'm pretty sure the demand will be strong for at least the next 6 months. That way, if I don't like it, I can sell it and (hopefully) get want I put into it.

Leasing, financing, straight purchase - there pros and cons to both.

 

No I havent my dealer hasnt mentioned about the $1500 lease incentive. When I go talk to him today I will mention it too him.

 

36 x $260 = $9360
Man you got a great deal.

 

I'm sure he put about $22K down...

 

I put down 20k cash. :P

 

Your situation isn't especially relevent to the lease discussion then. Leasers probably don't have $20k burning a hole in their pockets.

 

There are a lot better things you can do with $20k than investing in a depreciating asset. 3 years from now, the car won't be worth $20k, so you just lost money.

 

Lol

F it I'm still getting this car no matter what it costs.

 

I hate the "nothing to show for it" argument. You aren't paying for the ability to have the car at the end of 3 years. You are paying for the use during the 3 years. At the end of the the three years, you lease another car and you're driving new instead of a 3-year old car.

Leasing is good for some people, but not for others. Don't make blanket statements that leasing sucks. Yes, getting out of a lease is near impossible. But try getting out of car payments when your car is worth less than your pay-off. Also impossible unless you have some out of pocket money. Yes, leasing isn't good if you put a lot of miles on your car. But if you bought the car, it would also be worth a lot less than if you only drove 12k miles/year.

Your situation is that you put down $20k and make payments a total of $9300. You could have leased the car for $350/month (with good credit). At the end of 3 months, you've spent $3k more in payments, but your $20k could have been invested in something that actually appreciates. You can then lease a new car for $350/month or use your $20k + 3 years interest to buy the RX8 or whatever you want.

 

This is such a lame argument. A car is an expense, not an investment. What are people of modest means going to do with $20K? Put it in the bank and earn 1.5 percent interest? Put it in stocks and lose principal? No, by paying down your car you are avoiding your 6 percent auto loan (or whatever percent.) Consider as earning 6 percent TAX FREE, where otherwise you would be financing at that interest rate with no tax benefits. Putting the money down on the car purchase is not dumb at all.